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"As the new school year ramps up, teachers and parents need to be reminded of a well-kept secret: Across all grade levels and academic subjects, girls earn higher grades than boys. Not just in the United States, but across the globe, in countries as far afield as Norway and Hong Kong. This finding is reflected in a recent study by psychology professors Daniel and Susan Voyer at the University of New Brunswick. The Voyers based their results on a meta-analysis of 369 studies involving the academic grades of over one million boys and girls from 30 different nations. The findings are unquestionably robust: Girls earn higher grades in every subject, including the science-related fields where boys are thought to surpass them."

"What is your most memorable math lesson? For me, it was when Mrs. Kaylor helped us visualize and understand place value by building straw men as we counted straws by units of one, ten, and a hundred. I struggle to come up with many more memories and there's a good chance I'm not alone. If I asked the same question for other subjects, like social studies or language arts, however, I bet your answers would come a lot more easily. The difference? These subjects include lessons that are often applicable to real life. Whether it's a mock trial, a school play, or a science experiment, project work deepens student learning by allowing them to explore the connections between content and real life. Math lessons, on the other hand, have historically focused less on real-life connections. Like many students, I excelled in math by memorizing rules and tricks. In college, I trained to teach social studies, but became a math teacher by accident because I had earned enough math credits to qualify for a math teaching certification. It wasn't until I returned to earn a master's in math education that I discovered that math can be so much more than memorization."

"I have owned an iPad for quite some time now, and found it to be an excellent tool for both amateur photographers like myself and professionals alike. Sure, an iPad will never be able to replace a computer for serious photo editing (well, for me, anyway,) but I feel that it has definitely earned a place in the discerning photographers kit bag."

"To some people, Finland isn't a whole lot more than a chilly, northern country boasting a population of around 5 million people. Whether you've been to Finland or not, you probably haven't had the chance to take an up-close and personal look at one of Finland's greatest accomplishments to date - its high-achieving education system. Students in Finland have, over the past several years, risen to the top of the academic food-chain, and they've become some of the top scholarly performers in the world. Compared to many other developed nations, including the US and Canada, Finland's high school graduation rates have continued to grow steadily and impressively. Furthermore, a huge percentage of students continue on to earn college degrees, and students at all levels perform exceedingly well on standardized tests."

"This episode of ITT features the Sphero 2 robots and how the innovative educator, Sam Patterson, is using them in a robot club as well as when working with classrooms of students. From the Sphero Website: Control Sphero from your smartphone or tablet, change colors, complete challenges, earn tricks, and more. Sphero is waterproof, pet-proof, and ready to roll. Educationally savvy: Download free SPRK lessons and learn the basics of programming. Then unleash Sphero's inner robot and program like a pro. The more you play, the smarter you get."

"In a way, the current education system is already set up like a game-just not a very well designed one. Students earn points (grades), gain levels (grades), and in a way, have leaderboards. There are class valedictorians and students are essentially ranked based on their grades when colleges are deciding who to accept. Currently, the typical grading system in schools has students starting off with a 100 average, which slowly (or quickly, depending on the student's performance) gets lower and lower as the student receives anything less than a 100 on any assignments, tests, etc."

"Getting students to "mastery" implies that they have mastered a concept, have learned everything there is to know about it, and are ready to move on. This definition of mastery doesn't sit well with me. I've studied topics for years and never "mastered" them. In fact, I earned my master's degree in education more than a decade ago, but I learn how to be a better teacher every day. Each interaction with a student, every conference I attend, and daily conversations with colleagues continually expand my understanding. I can always learn more and explore a topic further."

"Mathematicians tend to conjure images of ill-fitting pants and pen protectors, but one fashionable genius is changing that equation, at the same time his theories are adding efficiency to global industries. Cédric Villani is among the modern world's greatest mathematical minds. But he makes a point of dressing like a 19th-century aristocrat. Think three-piece suits, frilly shirts and ribbon-like cravats. His style, combined with his long hair; tall, rake-thin frame and collection of giant spider brooches have earned him the moniker "The Lady Gaga of mathematics."

"Unfortunately, the strength in the talent pipeline that we see in female soccer today is not the reality for technology. The U.S. is facing a shortage of Computer Science (CS) graduates. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, every year there are close to 140,000 jobs requiring a CS degree, but only 40,000 U.S. college graduates major in CS, which means that 100,000 positions go unfilled by domestic talent. Even more dramatic is that women in U.S. colleges and universities earn only 18 percent of CS degrees. In middle school, 74 percent of girls express interest in Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM), but when choosing a college major, only 0.4 percent of high school girls select computer science. The true potential of future innovation will only become a reality if more women are part of it. A rich, diverse community of innovators is key for new technologies to address the needs of modern society. That is why Microsoft YouthSpark - a global initiative to create opportunities for all youth to learn computing - supports Girls Who Code, a national nonprofit organization that aims to close the gender gap in technology in the U.S."

"It was the summer of my disconnect… I've decided to try for a different focus this summer.  I want to spend a LOT less time online and tinker with technology that doesn't revolve around a 2D computer screen. Last year at this time, I was wrapping up my look at teaching computer programming to primary students.  I had just finished submitting in my Coetail Final Project and this was the subject-matter that I had chosen for my final project.  My investigation was done mainly through the 2D environment of the computer screen.    My own children and I spent last summer participating in two online "kids camp" programs that were an extension of my Coetail Final Project.  They were Scratch Programming and Minecraft.  We worked through several weeks of challenges, earned digital badges, and posted our creations online.  Some of them were featured in a weekly Show and Tell that was streamed over the internet by Pursuitery (has some connection with Connected Learning Alliance  and Mimi Ito of "Hanging Out, Messing Around, Geeking Out"). That was a huge amount of fun but it was all pixels."

"Since 2007, a diverse group of Pittsburgh's educators, funders, academics, and citizens-known as the Remake Learning Network-has emerged to exchange ideas and implement strategies to enhance the region's learning ecosystem. These efforts have provided the region's children and youth with novel, engaging, and relevant learning opportunities that help them thrive in school, college, and the workforce. Indeed, what began with small, informal discussions has blossomed into a full-fledged movement that is yielding notable results and earning national recognition. In the spirit of open innovation, the Network is building the Remake Learning Playbook, a field guide full of ideas and resources for supporting learning innovation networks. Filled with practical and actionable information to help other communities build on the Pittsburgh model for learning innovation."

Akoha is the world's first social reality game where you can earn points by playing real-world missions with your friends. Missions might include giving someone your favorite book, inviting a friend for drinks, or buying a friend some chocolate.

A Possible fit for SY Math or Business Classes?! Practice investing in the real stock market with a $1,000,000 practice portfolio. Compete with friends and other investors.Test strategies. Earn real money.

"Have a blast with Grammar Blast! Answer 10 questions and earn up to 100 game points. To play just choose a quiz below." Freee resources from Houghton Mifflin Engish. Good reading skills are required for these quizzes

Welcome to the 21 Things for the 21st Century Project Based on the National Educational Technology Standards for Teachers The purpose of this course is to provide "Just in Time" training through an online interface for K-12 educators based on the National Educational Technology Standards for Teachers (NETS-T). These standards are the basic technology skills every educator should possess. In the process, educators will develop their own skills and discover what students need in order to meet the NETS for Students, as well as the new MMC Online Experience requirement. Participants who fulfill all of the requirements have the opportunity to earn SBCEU's. To learn more about the session, look under the tab "The 21 Things". We hope you take advantage of this unique opportunity.

By rbyrnetech@hotmail.com (Mr. Byrne) on Educational Games Math Moves U has three levels of difficulty; grade 6 or lower, grade 7, and grade 8 or higher. To play the game students choose from one of eight customizable characters to be in the game. Then the player walks through scenery, along the way they are confronted by math problems that appear in boxes above the character's head. Points are earned by answering math questions correctly.

Developed for middle school and high school students, this online game gives your students the chance to learn important personal finance skills as they play and compete against fellow classmates. The game includes fifteen Missions in which students attempt to help people in financial trouble. Students join the Gen I Revolution, strategically select their Operatives, and begin to explore and earn points as they work to complete each Mission.

"When I was a kid, I wanted to be a drummer. When it came time to assign instruments in elementary school, I started on a practice drumming pad. The music teacher never let me graduate to a real drum because he knew what he was hearing on the rubber pad would be a disaster on a simple snare. But an aspiring drummer in Japan has mastered the pad - the iPad, that is. His fast-moving fingers earned him the title of "sickest drummer in metal right now" on Digg."

"Play is positive; gaming is good; and online engagement has begun supplying a generation with the love and feelings of connection that all humans crave. Some 7 billion hours a week are being poured into to this alternate world of engagement through online games. And 25 percent of Call of Duty players call in sick the day a new version the game comes out. These amazing and concerning facts paint a picture of the new world of gaming, said Jane McGonigal, who delivered the opening keynote address Wednesday at the FETC 2015 conference in Orlando, FL. The first person to earn a Ph.D. in the study of the effects of gaming, she is director of Games Research & Development at the Institute for the Future, a non-profit research group in Palo Alto, CA."

"MADISON, Wis. - Over the course of 12 weeks, twice a week, the prekindergarten students learned their ABCs. Attention, breath and body, caring practice - clearly not the standard letters of the alphabet. Rather, these 4- and 5-year-olds in the Madison Metropolitan School District were part of a study assessing a new curriculum meant to promote social, emotional and academic skills, conducted by the University of Wisconsin-Madison Center for Investigating Healthy Minds (CIHM) at the Waisman Center. Researchers found that kids who had participated in the curriculum earned higher marks in academic performance measures and showed greater improvements in areas that predict future success than kids who had not. The results were recently published in the journal Developmental Psychology."